Building back greener?
Christian perspectives on the future of our economy, money and work
7-8 October, 2022
Update on conference in light of scheduled rail strike
We are going ahead with our Green Christian “Building Back Greener” conference in Birmingham on Saturday 8 October.
We thought seriously about transforming the day into a Zoom event but it’s been so long since we met in person. We have heard from members in the West Midlands who are keen for the event to go ahead. We hope that many of you will feel the same.
If you have booked into the conference you will receive information on car-sharing and refunds.
If you have not yet booked and can come, please book below.
The online evening event on the 7 October is of course unaffected.
Green Christian’s conference this October is inspired by our Joy in Enough project. It will offer thought-provoking talks on creating a sustainable economy with opportunities for bringing questions and concerns.
All are welcome to attend.
Travel bursaries for people under 30.
Joining us by Zoom on the evening of Friday 7th October, is environmentalist and writer, Paul Kingsnorth, founder of the Dark Mountain project. The event starts at 7pm, with Paul’s talk starting at 7.30pm.
This will be followed by an in-person event at the Priory Rooms (7 minutes walk from Birmingham New Street Station), Birmingham B4 6AF on Saturday 8 October. Doors will open at 9.30am, the conference will run from 10.15am to 4.30pm.
Speakers on Saturday will be:
Professor Christopher Southgate, scientist and theologian
Molly Scott Cato, Professor of Green Economics at Roehampton University will speak on “Rethinking Security for Peace and Economic Justice”.
There will also be workshops and discussion, opportunities for informal get-togethers and networking, and taster sessions of Plenty!
The Conference will be encouraging participants to think about the economy of the future, likely developments, and Christian perspectives on these. Workshops are: Rage Against the Machine, Scripture and Transformational Change, Tax Justice and Money Makes Change, Consumption and Advertising, and Joy in Enough’s Plenty! programme. It will be a great opportunity for people to meet and talk to each other again.
You need to bring your own lunch. Drinks will be provided.
Donations to help cover the cost of the in-person Saturday conference are set at three different levels; please choose the option that best fits your circumstances.
- £10 – Money’s tight at the moment
- £20 – I can pay for a ticket
- £30 – “We love you” ticket
Workshops
Workshop 1: Rage against the Machine
Paul Kingsnorth’s Friday evening online talk will doubtless generate much food for thought. This session is intended as a follow-up, enabling participants to digest Paul’s input further through an opportunity to discuss some of the central themes which have emerged in Paul’s writings of late.
John Daniels will be exploring with this group such key ideas as: What exactly is the Machine? Is it possible to imagine Joy in Enough, or Plenty!, in a world shaped by what Progress wants? How do we avoid environmentalism getting distorted into a false gospel?
Workshop 2: Scripture and Transformational change
Nick Read will lead a discussion on how we might use Scripture in order to inform and guide our environmental reflections and political actions.
Workshop 3: Tax Justice and Money Makes Change: Pursuing justice with our finances
Tax justice is one of the most powerful tools at society’s disposal for eradicating inequality, and for enabling the most vulnerable countries to adapt and mitigate against the problems of climate change. But as a subject, it can sound dull, or overly complex – difficult to engage with, despite the emphasis our Lord put upon issues of economic justice. In this session, Church Action for Tax Justice’s Cat Jenkins will draw out some of the more accessible, and theologically-rooted, themes of tax and the environment – enabling participants to try their hand at writing a prayer or hymn verse which speaks to these very issues, and which can help others think about how to pray for them. It’s time to get creative!
What role can we play as Christians in pursuing a greener, more just economy through our banking, pension and investment decisions? We’ll explore a range of tactics we can use, from impact investing to shareholder action. There are actions we can all take, regardless of our financial resources, as part of a wider movement calling for a fairer, more sustainable financial system. Let’s inspire and equip each other for action! With Rose Venner from the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR).
Workshop 4: Consumption and Advertising
Is wealth a gift from God? Affluence enables us to choose less harmful consumption practices that are beyond the reach of poor households – organic food, longer lasting furniture and household appliances, avoiding intensively farmed goods, travelling by Eurostar rather than flying. Moreover, consumption provides jobs. Yet the Bible warns of the dangers of wealth. How do we choose appropriate levels and types of consumption in the face of seductive marketing techniques that tell us that we “deserve” products and increasingly prevalent electronic advertising billboards in our streets? How do we confront the forces that are driving excessive consumption? The workshop will be led by Professor Dr Tim Cooper.
Workshop 5: Plenty!
Green Christian’s Plenty! course invites you to imagine a society where everyone has enough to live a good life, where communities flourish, and the natural world heals and thrives. It takes you and your community through some of the tough questions around inequality, consumerism, social justice and the environment – all approached through conversation, stories and questions – and all leading into that important question of what you and your church can do to help create a fairer and greener world. Come and get a taste of what Plenty!’s like in this workshop, where we’ll do a sampler for one of the sessions. Led by our Joy in Enough program manager, John Payne.
Our Speakers
Paul Kingsnorth is an English writer who lives in the west of Ireland. He is a former deputy-editor of The Ecologist and a co-founder of the Dark Mountain Project. Paul’s nonfiction writing addresses themes like environmentalism, globalisation, and the challenges posed to humanity by civilisation-level trends. He is also a novelist and poet. In January 2021 he was baptised in the Romanian Orthodox Church at the Romanian Monastery in Shannonbridge, Ireland. Paul has a website and a new fortnightly essay series The Abbey of Misrule . He’s just done a great video on Conversion, Culture, and the Cross with Rowan Williams. .
Molly Scott Cato is Professor of Green Economics at Roehampton University. She will give her take concerning the emerging impact of the pandemic, and the Ukraine crisis, on an already precarious global economy. Is this a cost of living crisis, an incomes crisis, or a crisis of distribution we are living through? What role can ideas like a universal basic income, community currencies, and strengthened local economies play in creating real security? How else might we build a sustainable future in which ordinary people can flourish? How and why might we think about these issues as people with a spiritual commitment?”
Christopher Southgate is a professor in the Theology and Religion Department at the University of Exeter. He is a theologian, a research biochemist and a poet. His books include Theology in a Suffering World – Glory and Longing and The Groaning of Creation: God, Evolution and the Problem of Evil, a seminal work on suffering in creation. Do visit Chris’s website. (His presence is supported by the Montgomery Trust)
Workshop 1: John Daniels
Workshop 2: The Revd Nick Read is an agricultural chaplain in the Borderland Rural Chaplaincy in Herefordshire. He is also a Director of the Bulmer Foundation, a sustainable development charity based in Hereford, co-chair of Herefordshire Green Network and chair of Herefordshire Local Nature Partnership.
Workshop 3: Cat Jenkins and Rosie Venner.
Cat Jenkins is Programme Manager for Church Action for Tax Justice, a project of the ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility. She is based on the Isle of Man, and is the mother of twin 16 year old daughters. She is also is Administrator for our Plenty! course.
Rosie Venner manages the Money Makes Change programme for ECCR, an ecumenical Christian charity whose vision is of a world where money is used to shape a fairer, greener future. She’s also worked for the Student Christian Movement and Christian Aid, and worships at St Martin’s in Worcester.
Workshop 4: Professor Dr Tim Cooper is Emeritus Professor of Sustainable Design and Consumption at Nottingham Trent University. He has an economics degree from the University of Bath, where he first studied environmental economics and came across critics of economic growth. He was co-founder of Green Christian in 1982 (initially known as the Christian Ecology Group and, later, Christian Ecology Link) and its first Chairman. Contributing Editor of Longer Lasting Products, he has published extensively on product lifetimes and initiated the biennial PLATE (Product Lifetimes and the Environment) conferences.
Workshop 5: John Payne is our Joy in Enough co-ordinator. He worked as a development project manager and country lead for the British Council in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East witnessing some of the impact climate change is having on the vulnerable poor. He is a grandfather, Churchwarden, Chair of Governors of the village school, trustee of a small village community organisation focusing on sustainability, and is mad about the operas of Richard Wagner.
Green Christian’s Joy in Enough Project started in 2014 to explore alternatives to the current economic system. It draws together ideas from economists, environmentalists and theologians. It considers links between the way we run our economies, our consumption of goods and services and the climate change and biodiversity crises.
Near-by accommodation
Staybridge Suites Birmingham, an IHG Hotel
0.1 mile from the venue
2-star hotel
Martineau Place, Corporation St, Birmingham B2 4UW•0121 289 3636
Premier Inn Birmingham City Centre (Waterloo Street)
0.2 miles from venue
3-star hotel
3-6 Waterloo St, Birmingham B2 5PG•0333 777 3903
0.2 miles from venue
4-star hotel
25 Church St, Birmingham B3 2NR•0121 794 3005
0.2 miles from venue
5-star hotel
Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 2BS•0121 827 9600
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Comments on "Building back greener?"
Colin McCulloch:
I'm happy to see GC going ahead with this and I do hope the majority of those booked can find a way to be there! Being 'in the room' leads to so many more, and nuanced, interactions than the dry formality and technical limitations of online. Fine for 'education' but not for relationships and community.
Andrew Jacobs:
The way of St Francis and St Chad is how to build back greener, isn’t it?And meditation.
Ruth Jarman:
Yes, we are working on trying to get some of the conference on Zoom as well.
Gil Schwenk:
Great idea! But I’m surprised that a green organisation is doing a conference that requires travel! Are all workshops and speakers available on Zoom?
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